Hints of iPhone 8 Showing Up in Web Analytics

Back in February, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo laid out his expectations for the display resolution on the so-called "iPhone 8," a brand-new iPhone scheduled for release later this year that forgoes the traditional Home button and LCD screen in favor of an OLED display that fills essentially the entire front of the device.

Working from his expectations, we believe we are seeing increasing evidence of iPhone 8 devices visiting MacRumors. The numbers are unsurprisingly extremely low, but what we're seeing matches what we'd expect from Kuo's resolution claims. It has also become consistent enough that it's increasingly unlikely these data points are fakes or one-off blips in our analytics.

According to Kuo, the iPhone 8 will feature a 5.8-inch display, but with a strip along the bottom of the display reserved for a "function area." Details on exactly what the function area will be used for are unclear, but it will likely be some sort of dock-like area that could include fingerprint sensing, Home button functionality, and likely other dynamic icons and buttons for interacting with the device.

kuoiphone8size
While Kuo says the overall 5.8-inch display will have a resolution of 1242 x 2800 pixels, he claims the active "display area" will measure 5.15 inches diagonally with a resolution of 1125 x 2436. That's likely the screen size that would be presented to Safari and other apps as the usable display space.

Ever since the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple's Retina displays have used pixel doubling or tripling to increase the sharpness of text and other elements shown on the screen. For example, the iPhone 7's display has a native resolution of 750 x 1334, but it presents itself as a device running at half of those numbers in each dimension, or 375 x 667. This logical resolution, known as points, keeps screen content at reasonable sizes but with four pixels making up each point, thus allowing for increased sharpness.

Apple's "Plus" sized iPhone displays with native resolutions of 1080 x 1920 are a bit more complicated, presenting themselves as devices running at 414 x 736 points but in "3x" mode so that a total of nine pixels would be used to make up a single point on the screen. This multiplication factor yields a rendered display resolution of 1242 x 2208, which is then scaled down to fit the actual 1080 x 1920 display.

apple hig 1x 2x 3x

Example from Apple's Human Interface Guidelines showing increasing sharpness of 10 x 10 point image at 1x, 2x, and 3x

Taking a look at Kuo's claimed resolution of 1125 x 2436 for the active display on the iPhone 8, this would neatly correspond to a 3x Retina display at 375 x 812 points, exactly the same width in points as the iPhone 7 but taller. (A 5.15-inch display area at an 1125 x 2436 ratio would actually be slightly narrower physically than the iPhone 7's display, so content would appear slightly smaller on the screen at around 174 points per inch rather than the 163 points per inch of the iPhone 7.)

With iPhone 8 models having been in testing for many months now and production likely to start ramping up soon, it's likely some of these devices are being used to browse the web, and every once in a while one of them may visit MacRumors. Checking into our analytics, we are indeed seeing some activity from devices reporting themselves as having displays of 375 x 812.

iphone 8 analytics 375x812

Visits to MacRumors from devices reporting themselves as iOS devices running at 375 x 812

Aside from a couple of visits last September, we didn't see substantial activity from devices reporting themselves with resolutions of 375 x 812 until March, and even then things were very sparse until late May when things began to pick up. Since June 1, we've been seeing anywhere between one and four visits from these devices nearly every day. All of them are also reporting themselves as running iOS 11.0, which is both unsurprising and reassuring, given that the iPhone 8 will undoubtedly ship with iOS 11 as its operating system in the fall.

A handful of the visits came from IP addresses controlled by Apple, but even those coming from other IPs are localized to Cupertino or nearby cities of Sunnyvale and San Francisco when such data is available.

The number of visits we've seen from these devices is extremely low, totaling roughly three dozen sessions. We do on occasion see strange resolutions being reported by devices in our analytics, but the regularity with which we're seeing this resolution pop up suggests that this is likely a real device.

The 375 x 812 resolution is also the only one we're currently seeing appear associated with iOS 11 devices that can't be explained by an existing product. We similarly saw devices reporting a resolution of 834 x 1132 over a period of months leading up to last week's launch of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which corresponded to the 1668 x 2224 Retina display that was rumored for and ultimately appeared on the device.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 8 and more traditional "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus" models around the usual September timeframe for iPhone updates, although rumors have suggested supplies of the iPhone 8 could be extremely tight for up to several months after the official debut.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
90 months ago
A taller display, you say? I'll just leave this here. Gotta love MacRumors memes from 2012 and the iPhone 5 days!



Attachment Image
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
90 months ago
Remember when 800x600 on a 17" desktop display was considered luxurious and beautiful? I can only imagine where we will be in about 20 years.

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
90 months ago

-------------------------------------------------------------
While Kuo says the overall 5.8-inch display will have a resolution of 1242 x 2800 pixels,

That will be a nice upgrade to the aging 1080p display
Aging 1080 P display? I know right... I mean I can't believe the iPhone 7 Plus uses a 1080 P display. It's so outdated and why would anybody want that? It doesn't have enough pixels. /S.

Stop making the iPhone LED display sounding like it's horribly dated, it's not and it looks great.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ACST Avatar
90 months ago

While Kuo says the overall 5.8-inch display will have a resolution of 1242 x 2800 pixels,

That will be a nice upgrade to the aging 1080p display
This he types while looking at his 27 inch 1080p display...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dlewis23 Avatar
90 months ago


Here is a fresh video showing dummy of iPhone 8, and it looks awful :mad:
That's not a iPhone 8. this has been gone over many times.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macTW Avatar
90 months ago
That will be a nice upgrade to the aging 1080p display
Yes. Because we need more pixels in a handheld device. /s
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Apple Music Messages and Notes Feature 1

iOS 18 Rumored to Add New Features to These 15 Apps on Your iPhone

Tuesday April 30, 2024 10:44 am PDT by
Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, and new features have already been rumored for many apps, including Apple Music, Apple Maps, Calculator, Messages, Notes, Safari, and others. Below, we recap iOS 18 rumors on a per-app basis, based on reports from MacRumors, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, and others: Apple Maps: At least two new Apple Maps features are...
maxresdefault

Apple Event Rumors: iPad Pro With M4 Chip and New Apple Pencil With Haptic Feedback

Sunday April 28, 2024 6:19 am PDT by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman outlined some of the new products he expects Apple to announce at its "Let Loose" event on May 7. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. First, Gurman now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro models will be equipped with Apple's next-generation M4 chip, rather than the M3 chip that...
iPad Pro OLED Feature 2

Apple to Use 'Best OLED Panels on the Market' for Upcoming iPad Pro

Monday April 29, 2024 10:04 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPad Pro models will feature "by far the best OLED tablet panels on the market," according to Display Supply Chain Consultants. Set to be announced on May 7, the OLED iPad Pro models will feature LTPO (a more power efficient form of OLED), a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, and a tandem stack and glass thinning that will bring "ultra-thin and light displays" that support high...
iOS 18 General Notes Feature 2

iOS 18 Rumored to 'Overhaul' Notes, Mail, Photos, and Fitness Apps

Sunday April 28, 2024 6:44 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that iOS 18 will "overhaul" many of Apple's built-in apps, including Notes, Mail, Photos, and Fitness. Gurman did not reveal any specific new features planned for these apps. It was previously rumored that the Notes app will gain support for displaying more math equations, and a built-in option to record voice memos, but this is the first time we have...
iPad Air 5 Colors

Apple's M1 iPad Air Drops to New Low Price of $399.99 at Best Buy

Monday April 29, 2024 7:12 am PDT by
Best Buy today has discounted Apple's M1 iPad Air (64GB Wi-Fi) to a new all-time low price of $399.99 in the Starlight color option, down from $599.99. Best Buy says this deal will last through the end of the day, and it's only available in one color at this record low price. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
ios 17 5 repair state

iOS 17.5 Includes 'Repair State' Option That Doesn't Require Turning Off Find My for Service

Tuesday April 30, 2024 1:24 pm PDT by
With iOS 17.5, Apple is adding a "Repair State" feature that is designed to allow an iPhone to be sent in for service without deactivating Find My and Activation Lock. The fourth iOS 17.5 beta that came out today adds a "Remove This Device" option for all devices in Find My, and using it with an iPhone puts that iPhone into the new Repair State. Right now, sending an iPhone to Apple to be...